Knowledge of Hypertension and other Risk Factors for Heart Disease among Yoruba Rural Southwestern Nigerian Population

Background and Objectives: There is paucity of reliable information on knowledge about hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in rural southwestern Nigeria. This study assessed the level of awareness, basic knowledge and management of hypertension and CV risk factors among people living in rural south western Nigeria. Methods: A population based cross-sectional survey was conducted in Egbeda local government area of Oyo State, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used to interview 2000 subjects in order to assess knowledge of various aspects of modifiable CV risk factors. Results: The commonest source of medical information was the family/friend/opinion leaders of trusted groups in 1198(59.9%), the media (including radio, public enlightenment programmes, and newspapers) in 492(24.6%), and the doctor/nurse/health worker in 183(9.1%) of the respondents. The overall knowledge of CVD and its risk factors was poor. About 56% of the respondents could not identify a single risk factor. Of those who were able to, only a few could correctly identify the relationship between CV risk factors and CVD with some misconceptions. . We found that subjects who had more years of formal education, a positive family history of CVD, and self reported history of diabetes mellitus were more likely to have a good level of knowledge of hypertension and other CV risks when adjusted for age, gender and marital status. Conclusion: Our study confirms a limited knowledge and misconceptions of CVD and its risk factors in this population. Early detection and preventive practices were significantly lacking due to these gaps in Knowledge. There is an urgent need to design and implement culturally appropriate public awareness, health educational and health promotional programmes about CV risk factors and CVD for this community which can be adapted for other rural population in the country.